Sodium lactate is, inter alia, an important constituent in various flavouring mixtures. For the preparation of a flavouring mixture in powder form, it is important to be able to use sodium lactate in powder form. The stability of, in particular, open packs is an important criterion here. For good processing of sodium lactate in powder form in such flavouring mixtures, the stability of the sodium lactate in powder form is preferably at least 48 hours.
Sodium lactate in powder form is currently produced by crystallisation of a concentrated sodium lactate solution in absolute ethanol. Because of its highly hygroscopic properties, this powder has limited stability; it absorbs moisture very rapidly and in doing so forms a viscous fluid (as a rule within one hour and often after only 15 minutes).
Netherlands Patent Application 7106959 discloses a method for the preparation of sodium lactate in powder form with which an aqueous sodium lactate solution is spray-dried in a spray tower. With this method a glassy product may be formed on the wall of the spray tower.
This can largely be prevented by spray-drying a cooking salt solution first and then spray-drying the sodium lactate solution. This product, however, lacks the desired stability. The starting point for the present invention is a different method for removing water wherein sodium lactate is made in powder form in a less-energy costly way. The powder obtained with said method appears to have the desired stability.